Scottish Executive

Animal Welfare

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that exotic animals are only kept as pets by those with sufficient knowledge to care properly for their health and welfare.

Ross Finnie: We plan to introduce legislation which will require pet shops and pet retailers to issue appropriate information to those purchasing pets. This will include details of dietary and other requirements for all pets including exotic animals. Dangerous animals can only be kept under licence issued by local authorities.

Communication Impairment

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8490 by Ms Margaret Curran on 9 June 2004, what action is being taken to ensure that people with communication impairments other than sensory impairments, for example stroke victims with persistent expressive language difficulties, have access to pre-legislative consultation and to information published by the Executive.

Malcolm Chisholm: Scottish Executive guidance encourages all consultation teams to use a range of consultation methods and to ensure that their exercise is as inclusive as possible. Teams are advised, where appropriate, to involve equality groups in planning their exercise and to seek advice from appropriate organisations on issues such as distribution and format of consultation materials.   Individual consultation teams are, however, best placed to decide how to consult on any particular issue, taking account of a full range of factors, such as communication impairments and the nature of the target audience.

Environment and Rural Affairs

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the appointment of a new Head of its Environment and Rural Affairs Department.

Mr Tom McCabe: Arrangements for the appointment are at an advanced stage. An announcement will be made once the necessary approvals are in place.

Historic Monuments

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to preserve the Ardoch Roman Fort in Perthshire for future generations.

Ms Patricia Ferguson: Ardoch Roman fort and annexe are privately owned and are scheduled as monuments of national importance under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

  The on-going management of the site is the responsibility of the owner. Historic Scotland has, however, paid grants on several occasions for works to improve the management of the site.

  The most serious and visible management problem at Ardoch is the burrowing of rabbits. Negotiations are currently in progress between Historic Scotland and the owners of the monument over a management agreement aimed at reducing rabbit numbers on the northern half of the site. This would run in conjunction with a programme of archaeological management on the southern half of the site under the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department’s Rural Stewardship Scheme.

Home Energy Conservation Act 1995

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to enable the original 30% target for substantial improvements in energy efficiency under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 to be met.

Johann Lamont: I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The Scottish Executive has taken action on a number of fronts to help to improve energy efficiency in dwellings, including insulating almost 200,000 homes through the Warm Deal Programme and installing central heating and insulation in over 41,000 homes through the central heating programme. The Scottish House Condition Survey 2002 shows that the number in fuel poverty had more than halved to 13% since the last report in 1996. The Scottish Housing Quality Standard aims to provide additional energy efficient measures, where technically feasible, to achieve a minimum National Home Energy Rating rating of five or Standard Assessment Procedure rating of 50.

Home Energy Conservation Act 1995

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce mandatory targets for local authorities to improve domestic energy efficiency under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995.

Johann Lamont: I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Individual local authorities were asked to submit their initial Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA) strategies to the then Secretary of State by the end of 1997. The initial HECA strategies that included local authorities target improvements in energy efficiency are used as the baseline to monitor the impact of HECA. The Scottish Housing Quality Standard provides guidance on desired energy efficiency ratings.

  There are no current plans to introduce mandatory targets.

Home Energy Conservation Act 1995

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average percentage improvement in energy efficiency was in Scotland in comparison with England under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 in each year from 1997-98 to date.

Johann Lamont: I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  In Scotland, local authorities report on their percentage improvement in energy efficiency every two years. In England reports are provided on an annual basis. The average percentage improvement in energy efficiency for both countries is shown in the table.

  

Year
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003


Scotland
- 
- 
2.77%*
-
4.30%**
-
N/A


England
0.96%
1.35%
2.00%
1.69%
2.19%
2.17%
2.64%



  Notes:

  * For the period 1 April 1997 to 31 March 1999.

  ** For the period 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2001.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it remains committed to the establishment of a Scottish Human Rights Commission.

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8206 by Cathy Jamieson on 25 May 2004, when it will make an announcement on the establishment of a Scottish Human Rights Commission.

Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-10185 on 11 October 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Licensing

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many licensed premises were closed down by (a) the police and (b) local authorities in each of the last 10 years.

Hugh Henry: This information is not collected centrally.

Planning

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria require to be met prior to any proposed loss of green space in urban areas being referred to the Executive.

Johann Lamont: The extent of any Executive involvement in such matters will depend on issues such as the nature of the project leading to the loss of such space, any formal designation on the site and the particular consent procedures involved.

  To take the planning system as an example, planning procedures do not contain a specific requirement for planning authorities to notify the Executive of planning applications involving loss of green space in urban areas.

  However, there are a number of categories of proposal where notification of the Scottish ministers is required, and within which applications for development of such open space might fall. For example, applications for development on playing fields where sportscotland have advised against granting planning permission or applications where development is contrary to an approved structure plan because the land involved is designated green belt.

  Details of these notification requirements are contained in the Town and Country Planning (Notification of Applications) (Scotland) Direction 1997, as amended. A copy of this direction is contained in Circular 4/1997: Notification of Applications, which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33972).

  Details of some of the amendments to the 1997 Direction which may be of interest in this context can be found in:

  Circular 43/1997: The Town and Country Planning (Notification of Applications) (Scotland) Amendment Direction 1997 (Bib. number 33973)

  Circular 15/1998: The Town and Country Planning (Notification of Applications) (Scotland) Amendment Direction 1998 (Bib. number 33974)

  Notification of a planning application to the Scottish ministers allows them to consider whether or not the application should be called-in for their determination.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what evaluations are carried out on entry to prison of the learning abilities of individual prisoners and whether prisons are equipped to identify conditions such as dyslexia.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Prisoners who co-operate and are identified at induction to prison as having a high priority requirement to address the basic skills of communication (reading and writing) and numeracy are offered support including, initially, a basic skills assessment.

  All prisoners who engage in learning and who highlight or appear to have a dyslexia condition are offered support through the prison learning centre. This may include undertaking further diagnostic assessment in line with the guidelines produced by the Scottish Prison Service in consultation with Dyslexia in Scotland the charitable company of the Scottish Dyslexia Association.

Prison Service

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is for preparing prisoners addicted to drugs for release back into the community.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  All offenders with a substance misuse problem will be assessed on admission and referred to SPS Addiction Services. All substance misusing offenders have an opportunity to participate in transitional care where they have up to 12 weeks support in the community post release with housing, access to a GP and harm reduction information. For prisoners serving less than 31 days, this has been further enhanced with the introduction of crisis transitional care. Crisis being the limited time to liaise, refer and work with offenders whilst in prison.

  Prior to release there is also a range of prisoner programmes and approved activities designed to address substance misuse issues as well as one to one support and counselling by both Scottish Prison Service staff and community based voluntary sector organisations, therapeutic group-work and access to substitute and detox prescribing.

Prisoner Escorts

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive under what exemption to the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information it decided to withhold information contained in Contract between The Scottish Ministers and Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for the Provision of Prisoner Escort and Court Custody Services in Scotland .

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Information was withheld under exemptions 4(b), 4 (e), 7(a) and 13.

Prisoner Escorts

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the public interest in the release of commercially confidential information in Contract between The Scottish Ministers and Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for the Provision of Prisoner Escort and Court Custody Services in Scotland is outweighed by any harm likely to arise from such a release.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes. The exemptions under which the SPS withheld information from the published version of the contract are subject to a public interest test. The SPS concluded that the harm likely to arise from the publication of the withheld information outweighed the public interest in releasing the information.

Renewable Energy

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10071 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 17 September 2004, where each of the wind farms are located; what the capacity of each wind farm is, and what the reasons were for allowing the appeal on one wind farm application.

Johann Lamont: The following table lists the location proposed for each of the wind farm appeals referred to in answer to question S2W-10071. The generating capacity is not always specified at planning appeal stage, and so the information included in the table is a best estimate as provided by the applicant at the time of the application.

  

Area
Site Address
Approximate Capacity in Megawatts (MW)


Aberdeenshire
East Mains of Dummuie, Drumblade, Huntly
11


Aberdeenshire
West Bradieston/East Bradieston Burton and Smiddyhill Farms, Laurencekirk
12


Argyll and Bute
An Suidhe, Argyll
6.17


Dumfries and Galloway
Carlesgill Hill Langholm (1)
Not specified


Dumfries and Galloway
Carlesgill Hill Langholm (2)
Not specified


Dumfries and Galloway
Carlesgill Hill Langholm (3)
Not specified


Highland
Creag Riasgain, Crakaig Estate, Helmsdale
4.8


Highland
Borrowston Mains, Dounreay, Thurso
13


Moray
Hill of Towie, Knockan and McHattie’s Cairn, Drummuir, Keith
42


North Ayrshire
Clydeport, Hunterston Terminal, Fairlie, Largs
53


Perth and Kinross
Balado Activity Centre, Balado, Kinross
6


South Lanarkshire
Penbreck and Carmacoup Forrest, near Glespin
27



  The appeal allowed was within Dumfries and Galloway at Carlesgill Hill, Langholm (case referenced (1) in the table). Planning permission had been granted in 1996 for the erection of five wind turbines with a total capacity of 1.5 MW. The appeal was against the refusal of Dumfries and Galloway Council to vary a condition on that permission, the effect of which would have been to permit an increased size for the towers and rotor blades, giving an overall height of 53.5m compared to the 44m permitted in 1996. The capacity of the proposed new turbines was not specified in the appeal. In allowing the appeal the Reporter concluded that the larger turbines would not contravene the relevant provisions of the Dumfries and Galloway Structure plan; that support for the variation was to be found in National Planning Policy Guidance 6 Renewable Energy; that in static mode the higher turbines would not significantly increase the dominance of the wind farm, and that the slower speed of the larger turbines would outweigh the adverse landscape impact.

  The case at Carlesgill Hill in Dumfries and Galloway (referenced (2) in the table) proposed three wind turbines, with an overall height of 99.5m. Capacity was not specified in the proposal, but details of two possible examples of turbines were provided for the appeal, with capacities of 1.75MW and 2.0MW respectively.

  The case at Carlesgill Hill in Dumfries and Galloway (referenced (3) in the table) related to the same condition of the 1996 planning permission which was the subject of case (1). The effect of the proposal would be the erection of five turbines with an overall height of 99.5m. As with Case (2), capacity was not specified in the proposal, but details of two possible examples of turbines were provided for the appeal, with capacities of 1.75MW and 2.0MW respectively.

Renewable Energy

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce regional or local authority area targets for renewable energy production.

Allan Wilson: While we do not currently propose to set local targets nor to identify preferred areas for such developments, we plan to create a new advisory forum to support the forthcoming review of renewable planning guidelines. This body will help us achieve our aim of meeting our ambitious renewables targets in an environmentally acceptable manner.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, following reports in The Herald on 17 September 2004, what its policy is in respect of the costs of landslide prevention and maintenance of land prone to landslide that is adjacent to adopted roads including trunk roads and, in particular, whether it will meet any costs incurred by landowners in this regard and, if so, which costs and on what basis.

Nicol Stephen: Following the major landslips which occurred during August 2004, the Executive has commissioned a study to consider the whole impact of landslips on trunk roads in Scotland. Part of the study will review what mitigation measures might be possible and will also consider the implications of such mitigation measures including the responsibilities and potential liabilities of landowners.

  Until the findings of the study have been reported, it is too early to indicate what the financial implications of any mitigation measures might be and where the responsibility for implementing such measures might lie.

  Local authorities have a general duty to deal with emergencies such as flooding, and there is no automatic entitlement to special assistance. In exceptional circumstances, authorities can apply under the Bellwin Scheme for emergency assistance to meet any undue financial burden. The Bellwin Scheme was activated following the recent landslips and any claims for eligible expenditure will be considered by the Scottish Executive when they are received.

Student Finance

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many students aged 50 to 54 who have received both tuition fees and student support have returned to employment after completing their studies.

Mr Jim Wallace: In 2001-02 an estimated 58 per cent of higher education graduates from Scottish higher education institutions and further education colleges aged 50 to 54 were in employment six months after graduation. The equivalent estimate for students of all ages is 61 per cent.

  The available data does not distinguish between those who received support and those who did not.